Travelers Can Still Find the Magic of ‘Old Hollywood’—If They Know Where to Look
“YOU WANT to touch the Hollywood Sign?” asked Jeff Zarrinnam, chairman of the Hollywood Sign Trust, the organization that oversees its preservation, with a laugh. “I think we can arrange that.” This was my pop-culture holy grail. Like many travelers to Los Angeles, I have hiked the public trail in Griffith Park to the top of Mt. Lee, which offers a distant vision of the famous letters’ backside. It’s a deservedly iconic view, but this felt like a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for more. I followed Zarrinnam as he unlocked a private security gate in the Hollywood Hills, about 100 feet above the letters, and handed me a rope to hold on to for the scramble down a slippery hillside. “I’m going down first,” he declared with an Indiana Jones flourish. “Wait till I give you the signal!” Copyrigh...